Phytopharm In Talks With Unilever To End Hoodia Pact
Friday November 14th, 2008 / 14h19
Edited Press Release LONDON -(Dow Jones)- Phytopharm said Friday that it is in discussions with Unilever, its partner for the development of Hoodia extract as a functional food targeting weight management, with a view to mutually terminating their agreements. Unilever and Phytopharm originally signed a licence and joint development agreement of the development and commercialisation of Hoodia extract in December 2004. Hoodia extract is a novel appetite suppressant that has been shown to reduce caloric intake in overweight subjects, as previously announced by Phytopharm. Data from a recent clinical study using Hoodia extract in a drink-based product have led Unilever to conclude that it is unsuitable to be taken forward by Unilever. As a consequence, the parties are discussing the terms of termination. Phytopharm believes, however, that the pre-clinical and clinical data of Hoodia extract encourage further study of Hoodia for obesity, as well as for pharmaceutical and veterinary applications. Alistair Taylor, Chairman of Phytopharm, commented: "...Whilst Hoodia has not been found to be suited for a Unilever branded product, we have compiled a substantial dataset which will allow us to explore alternative product formats for the commercialisation of Hoodia". "We will now take further steps to build on this foundation and seek other partners to further develop Hoodia and bring this exciting opportunity to market", Taylor said. There has been no material change in the financial position of the Company since the interim management statement issued on July 3, and cash and cash equivalents are currently estimated to be GBP7 million. The Cogane(TM) and Myogane(TM) clinical programmes continue in line with the Board's expectations as well as previous announcements made by the Company, it said. In the interim period until a new executive team is appointed, Alexander Morrison, a non-executive director of the Company and the former Chief Executive of Lipton , will take over the role of acting CEO of Phytopharm. He will be supported in the financial role by Phytopharm's Head of Finance until a new CFO is appointed, the company said. Click here to go to Dow Jones NewsPlus, a web front page of today's most important business and market news, analysis and commentary: http://www.djnewsplus.com/al?rnd=Zl42RD3mDSA12KI2spLZ%2Bg%3D%3D. You can use this link on the day this article is published and the following day.
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